KASHMIR. General Raja Sir Amar Singh, K.C.S.I., Chief Minister of Kashmir, 1890s

KASHMIR. A vintage portrait of General Sir Amar Singh in general’s uniform, holding a sword of the British general officer’s pattern, introduced in 1831 and still in use today. The portrait, 8¼ x 6 ins, is pasted to old card and there is evidence on the verso of having been pasted into an album. The card is closely and unevenly trimmed but the portrait is undamaged. It retains the original letterpress title separately pasted to the card, reading SATWARI (JUMMOO) – Sir Amar Singh, Chief Minister of Kashmir. The three quarter length portrait shows the Minister, who held a number of high offices in the state, seated and wearing the star and neck badge of the Most Exalted Order of the Star of India. He was created a Knight Commander, KCSI, on 31st October 1891 when he was listed as Raja Amar Singh, President of the Council, Kashmir. Around the neck he wears the large medal awarded at the Imperial Assemblage held in Delhi in 1877 to mark the assumption of the title Empress of India by Queen Victoria, which was announced there by the Viceroy of Indai, the Earl of Lytton. The Raja lived from 1864 to 1909.      feb17/2